February NAC 2026 Day 1 Recap: Staying Focused, One Touch at a Time

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by Nicole Kirk

Cincinnati, Ohio - The first day of the February North American Cup kicked off with a total of fifteen gold medals awarded. Each gold medalist stood at the top of the podium proudly, conquering their event.


Paul Epply-Schmidt (Bucks County Academy of Fencing & Sebastiani Fencing Academy) took home gold in the Vet-60 men’s foil event. For Epply-Schmidt, this was a big moment, “after two years due to injury of not participating, to come back and have a very close bout like that was a huge thrill.”


He said he treated it one touch at a time, like everyone else. His key to staying focused “I block it out and I try to fence one touch at a time.”

Sophia Kovacs (Tar Heel Fencing Academy LLC) took home gold in Division I women’s saber despite not getting the best rest the night before. In order to stay mentally ready for fencing she said “[I was] fueling myself the right way, and making sure that in between bouts, I was actually sitting down, taking the space I needed to, and then in the bout, just giving everything I had.”

Erica Julien (Forge Fencing Teams) had a great time while fencing, “This is great. I really enjoyed it. The competition was not easy. We have some tough 80 year old fencers, and you never underestimate these people.”

She also fenced against an opponent she faces regularly. On whether or not it’s tougher she said, “No, it's just as hard every time, because you never know what they've changed and what new moves they're going to do. And your opponent often surprises you.” 

The weekend continues as there are three more days of competition to crown gold medalists.

Day 1 Results

Day 1 Results


Junior Men’s Épée

Gold: Daniel Chirashnya (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

Silver: Andy Zheng (Guanyi Fencing Academy & Twin Cities Fencing Club)

Bronze: Nathaniel Wimmer (Elite Fencing Academy & EFA)

Bronze: Simon Lioznyansky (Alliance Fencing Academy)

5th: William Doyon-Verdon

6th: James Knox (Fencers Club Inc. & Johns Hopkins University)

7th: Christopher Davoodian (Swords Fencing Studio)

8th: Caleb Su (DC Fencers Club)


Div I Women’s Saber

Gold: Sophia Kovacs (Tar Heel Fencing Academy LLC)

Coaches: Sheriff Elbakry, Matt Jednak

Silver: Sophie Liu (Capital Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Xuanyi Zhang (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona & Spartak)

Bronze: Chloe Fox-Gitomer (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

5th: Siobhan Sullivan (University of Notre Dame & Oregon Fencing Alliance)

6th: Honor Johnson (Manhattan Fencing Center)

7th: Magda Skarbonkiewicz (Oregon Fencing Alliance & University of Notre Dame)

8th: Zoe Kim 


 Div I Women’s Foil

Gold: Lee Kiefer (Bluegrass Fencers' Club)
Silver: Ella Calise (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club (Port Chester))
Bronze: Katerina Lung (Moe Fencing Club LLC & Columbia University)
Bronze: Carolina Stutchbury (Epic Fencing Club & Columbia University)
5th: Gabrielle Grace Gebala (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)
6th: Yiran Wang (Star Fencing Academy)
7th: JoJo Conway (University of Notre Dame & Escrime Du Lac)
8th: Rebecca Cho (Top Fencing Club)


Vet-40 Men’s Foil

Gold: Stephen Jan (Metropolitan NYC)

Coaches: Sean McClain

Silver: Dong-Ying Pai (Twin Cities Fencing Club)

Bronze: Rick Fulton (Golden State Fencing Academy & Halberstadt Fencers' Club)

Bronze: Liran Gross (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

5th: Anthony Kosla (Plymouth/Ann Arbor Fencing Academy)

6th: Alexander Tsinis (New York Athletic Club & North Shore Fencers Club)

7th: Thomas Hennig (Blue Ridge Fencing Center)

8th: Michael Green (Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club)


 Vet-40 Women’s Épée

Gold: Dayana C. Martinez Hansen (Wasatch Fencing & Valkyrie Fencing Club)

Silver: Cassandra Bates (Marx Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Lacey Biniak (Northwest Fencing Center & Orion Fencing)

Bronze: Lauren Dunseath (Apex Fencing Academy & Forge Fencing Teams DUR)

5th: Holly Buechel (Cornell University Collegiate Fencing Club)

6th: Marie Lawson (DC Fencers Club)

7th: Kundry Haberkern (Salle Auriol Seattle)

8th: Meghan Phair (Riverside Fencing Club)


 Vet-50 Men’s Foil

Gold : Rafael Suarez (Masters Fencing Club)

Silver: Marek Wyszynski (Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: John Gonzalez Ii (Yorkville Arms Fencing Club)

Bronze: Michael Cho (Renaissance Fencing Club & Yorkville Arms Fencing Club)

5th: Reynaldo Lopez (Heartland Fencing Academy)

6th: Craig Harkins (Lotus Fencing Academy)

7th: Nathan Anderson (Denver Fencing Center & Denver Fencing Foundation)

7th: Andrey Tyshchenko



 Vet-50 Women’s Épée

Gold: Leslie Marx (Marx Fencing Academy)
Silver: Kristin Foellmer (DC Fencers Club)
Bronze: Janet Marsh (No Fear Fencing)
Bronze: Monica Exum (Salle Auriol Seattle)
5th: Sandra Marchant (Rogue Fencing Academy & The Phoenix Center)
6th: Heidi Chang (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM) & NEMA Fencing Center)
7th: Karen Byron (Arena Fencing Academy LLC)
8th: Klaudia Shick (Bucks County Academy of Fencing - West)


Vet-60 Men’s Foil

Gold: Paul Epply-Schmidt (Bucks County Academy of Fencing & Sebastiani Fencing Academy)

Silver: Eric Dew (Halberstadt Fencers' Club)

Bronze: Roustam Pimoutkine (Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: Jamie Douraghy (LA International Fencing)

5th: Julio Diaz (Invictus Fencing)

6th: Emanuel Voyiaziakis (Fencers Club Inc.)

7th: George Dell (RedStar Fencing Club Chicago)

8th: Gary Hayenga (Plymouth/Ann Arbor Fencing Academy & Ann Arbor Dueling Society)


Vet-60 Women’s Épée

Gold: Jeannine Prokop (Nova Fencing Club)

Silver: Amy Montoya (Battle Born Fencing Club)

Bronze: Rosa Cano-Diosa (San Diego Fencing Center)

Bronze: Valerie Asher (DC Fencers Club)

5th: Cynthia Glover (Rain City Fencing Center & Salle Auriol Seattle)

6th: Lydia Fabry (Avant Garde Fencers Club, Inc (CA) (AGFC) & Fortune Fencing)

7th: Toby Tolley (The Phoenix Center & Rogue Fencing Academy)

8th: May Rowland


Vet-70 Men’s Foil

Gold : Henri J. Darricau Oly (Denver Fencing Center)

Silver: Stephen Gross

Bronze: Tom Lutton (Denver Fencing Center)

Bronze: Philippe Bennett (Fencers Club Inc.)

5th: Joseph Streb (Columbus International Fencing Academy & Royal Arts Fencing Academy)

6th: Lou Mariani (The Fencing Center)

7th: Jerry Leblanc (Elite Fencing Club)

8th: Mitch Dorfman (Morris Fencing Club)


 

Vet-70 Women’s Épée

Gold: Charlotta Bowie (DC Fencers Club & Modern Duelists Fencing Academy)

Silver: Lori Radich (Hangtown Saber Club & The Fencing Center)

Bronze: Cara Wunderlich (Rogue Fencing Academy & The Phoenix Center)

Bronze: Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Connecticut Fencers Club & Marx Fencing Academy)

5th: Trish Brown (Northwest Fencing Center)

6th: Rosa Hearne (Atlantic Fencing Academy)

7th: Cynthia Runyon (High Desert Fencing Alliance)

8th: Anna Estrada (Halberstadt Fencers' Club & Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))


Vet-80 Men’s Foil
Gold : Adrian Sessions (Bay Area Fencing Club & the Fencing Center)

Silver: Donald Anderson (New Mexico Fencing Foundation)



Vet-80 Women’s Épée

Gold: Erica Julien (Forge Fencing Teams)

Silver: Bettie Graham (Chevy Chase Fencing Club)

Bronze: Judith Shuler (Lancaster Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Mary Turzillo


Veteran Women’s Foil

Gold : Julie Seal (Valkyrie Fencing Club)

Silver: Judith Bassik (Ohio Fencing Center)

Bronze: Rachel Fedde (Brooklyn Fencing Center)

Bronze: Bonnie Hennig-Trestman (Research Triangle Fencing)

5th: Polina McGrath (Plymouth/Ann Arbor Fencing Academy)

6th: Doina Bogdan (United Fencing Academy)

7th: Lacey Maddox (Charlotte Fencing Academy)

8th: Margaret Fagan (Fencers Club Inc.)


 Veteran Men’s Saber

Gold: Franklin Rea (Boston Fencing Club)

Silver: Aziz Abdellahi (Boston Fencing Club)

Bronze: Joshua Bush (Lincoln Fencing Club)

Bronze: Brian Chen (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona)

5th: Richard Herrera (PDX Fencing)

6th: Max Terentiev (Fencing Academy of Westchester)

7th: Christian Dudnick (Fencing Academy of Denver)

8th: Joachim Creten (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

Day 1 Photos 

Find all of the great photos from Day 1 here.